Cableway for conveying and dumping rock



- (No Model.) 2 Shets-Sheet 1.

C. H. LOOHER. GABLEWAY FOR CONVEYING AND DUMPING ROCK, &c. No. 572,491. Patented Dec. 1,1896.

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0.. H. LOOHER. GABLEWAY FOR commune AND DUMPING ROCK, &c.

No. 572,491. Patented Dec. 1,1896.

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-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. LOCHER, OF GLASGOYV, VIRGINIA.

CABLEWAY FOR CONVEYING AND DUMPING ROCK, 84,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 572,491, dated December 1, 1896.

Original application filed January 9, 1894, Serial No. 496,246. Divided and this application filed March 29,1894. $erial No. 505,572. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. LOCHER, a resident of Glasgow, in the county of Rockbridge and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Oableways ing apparatus by which the load can be carried to any desired place along the cable and dropped in mid-air at the will of the operator.

The present application is a division of the application filed byme on January 9, 1894, Serial No. 496,246.

These cableways are usually employed in the making of excavations for the purpose of carrying out materials in making the excavation or filling in of the same, and they are used for raising the loaded buckets or skips from the excavation and carrying them to the dumping pile, or, as it is sometimes termed, the spoil-bank. They consist of two towers of sufficient height to lift the buckets out of the excavation to such elevation as is necessary for dumping purposes, the towers being preferably mounted on large cars or trucks which run on tracks and are anchored in different positions, means for moving the cableway along the excavation being thus provided. Stretched between the towers is a line of heavy cable which forms the track on which a carriage carrying the dumping apparatus travels, that carriage being mounted on the track by means of what is called an endless drive-rope, which is operated by a drum driven by an engine, the drive-rope passing around the drum and moving the carriage in either direction along the cable or track. In the construction heretofore employed the bucket or box carrying the material to be elevated, carried to the spoilbank, and dumped was supported on a separate rope, which raised and lowered the same and permitted the dumping of the load, the usual operation being that the loaded bucket was lifted out of the excavation by means of the fall-rope, (as it was termed,)

carried along the cableway, and then by slackening the fall-rope was lowered onto the dump, the chain unhooked, and the rear end of the bucket raised by means of the fallrope and the load dumped, and the bucket was then carried back to the excavation, the bucket being open and hanging down. This method had the disadvantage that the bucket when lowered onto the spoil-bank was liable to slide for some distance over the rock on the spoil-bank, and as it was carried back to the excavation in a vertical position it was liable to strike on and scrape over the sharp edges of the rock, which soon wore it out, and in the operation a tremendous strain was brought upon the whole cable system, causing great vibration and wear of all the parts, and the-operation was necessarily slow, re quiring the lowering of the bucket and the releasing of the chain thereof. In said application, filed January 9, 1894, I have described a system of dumping in which, in connection with the towers, the main supporting-cable, the carriage traveling on the cable, and the drive-rope or like mechanism for moving the carriage, were employed two independent ropes hanging from the carriage and connected to the front and rear ends, respectively, of the bucket, and operating to dump the load at any desired point by controlling the movement of these two ropes, the apparatus providing for the raising of the load, the carrying of the load along the cableway to the desired point by means of the drive-rope, and by controlling the independent ropes either lowering the forward end of the bucket or raising the rear end thereof to dump the material therein, the dumping taking place in mid-air at any desired point, according to the movement of the drive-rope, while by the control of the two independent ropes supporting thebucket the bucket was then brought to a horizontal position and carried back to the excavation, injury to the bucket being prevented, dumping taking place at any desired point and being entirely under the control of the operator, the operation of dumping being rendered more rapid and the strain on the cableway materially reduced. In said application I have described two means of controlling said ropes, one consisting in a clutch controlling the rope connected to the rear end of the bucket, on which specific claims were made, and the other consisting in a drum for operating the dumping-ropes in a peculiar way.

The present invention relates to the combination, with the other parts of the apparatus, of the drum for controlling the movement of the operating-ropes.

The invention consists, generally stated, in the combination, with the main supporting cable or track, of a carriage traveling thereon, a drive-rope for moving the carriage, two independent ropes hanging from the carriage and connected to the front and rear ends of the bucket, and drums of different diameters controlling said ropes, as well as means for operating the ropes, so that one rope can be drawn into line with a drum of greater or smaller diameter, and by wrapping thereon be caused to take up the one rope at a different speed from the other and so cause the dumping of the load.

The special points of invention desired to be covered will be described hereinafter.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side View of a cableway and a dumping apparatus, illustrating the general system on which it operates. Fig. 2 is a side View, somewhat enlarged and broken away, illustrating the operative drum and the position of the carriage and bucket and ropes operating the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of the drum; Fig. 4, a top view thereof; Fig. 5, a perspective view, and Fig. 6 is a detail view of the drums.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. v

In the accompanying drawings, A is the operating-tower on one side of the excavation 1'3, and C the supporting-tower on the other side of the excavation. Said towers are supported on suitable trucks a 0, respectively, which are preferably arranged to run on tracks or tramways by suitable wheels, as shown, so that the cableway system may be moved along the excavation to any point at which it is desired to employ it. The two towers are connected by the main cable D, which is a heavy wire cable extending between the upper ends of the towers, the ends cl of the cable being carried down to the outer ends of the trucks at 0, respectively, and anchored there. This cable D serves as the track on which the carriage E travels, this carriage supporting the bucket or dirt-carrier L, hereinafter described. For the purpose of moving the carriage E upon the cableway D, I employ the drive-rope F, the two ends of which are connected to the opposite ends of the carriage 'E, as at ff, the drive-rope passing around a pulley f on the tower O and over pulleys f f on the tower A, and being carried thence around the drum S, operated by the engine g, which drum is so controlled as to move the drive-rope in either direction, and through it the carriage, to any desired point along the cable.

The form of carriage preferred to be employed is that shown in the accompanying drawings, the carriage having a frame composed of the longitudinal bars 6 6, connected by the vertical bars or straps e e e e and the diagonal braces e 6". In the upper longitudinal bar e of said frame are mounted the trolleys 7L h 72. which run upon the main cable D, the frame being suspended on the cable by means of these trolleys, and below the trolleys h h are the pulleys i i, which through the fall-rope K,herein after described, support the block 70, to which the front end of the bucket or dirt carrier L is connected. The vertical bars e e extend below the pulleys i 11 to support the longitudinally-extending bar m, which extends beyond the main portion of the frame, having the horizontal portion 117/ formed on a downward incline and the horizontal portion m beyond the same, which connects with a vertical bar m extending down from the upper longitudinal bar 6 below the trolley 7L2, the-barm supporting the pulleys n at, over which passes the dumping-rope P, which supports the block 1), to which the rear end of the bucket is connected. It will be seen that the fall-rope K, which passes over the pulleys i t" and supports the block 70, leads from the carriage at a higher point than the dumping-rope P,which passes over the pulleys n 71, this being preferred, so that there will be no danger of the entanglement of the said ropes, the said ropes K P being the two independent ropes for con trolling the movement of the bucket L, depending from the carriage. The bucketL is supported by chains ZZ through hooks at the lower ends of the blocks 7.; p, and the buckets are arranged so that they may be quickly engaged or disengaged from the blocks. Extending from the hook k of the block 76 to a point near the forward end of the bucket L- over suitable pulleys at the upper end of the tower A down to one or more drums R in the engine-house, where the ropes pass around the drum and are wound thereon or unwound therefrom, according to the desired move ment either of the carriage or of the buckets. It is preferred that the drum Rshall be moved at the same surface speed as the drum S, operating the drive-rope, so that on the movement of the carriage along the main cable the bucket shall be held in proper relation there- I wound upon the face i, while between said faces is the enlargeddru m-face v, on which the rear or dumping rope P is wound to take upthat rope more rapidly on account of the increased surface speed of the enlarged drumface as compared with the speed of the drumface r, and by moving the dumping-rope P may be employed.

into such position that it winds upon the enlarged drum-face that rope will be taken up more rapidly, and will, therefore, lift the rear end of the bucket and cause the discharge of the load, and upon the reversal of the drum, as the ropes unwind, the bucket will be brought to its normal horizontal position. The three drum-faces r 25 U are, for all practical purposes, three drums, though for simplicity they are formed as parts of the drum B.

Any suitable mechanism for moving the dumping-rope P in line with the drum-face o For that purpose I prefer the apparatus more particularly shown in the drawings, the bearings of the drum R supporting brackets 10, which extend up beyond the face of the drum to support the shaft or guide w and carry arms 103, which support the shaft 10 the rope-guide a sliding on said guides by means of sleeves u, fitting around the same. The rope-guide carries the idlerollers 11/ between which the dumping-rope P passes, and by which that rope is guided either in line with the main drum-face t of the drum or the enlarged drum-face The rope-guide u is moved on the shafts 10 Q02 by means of the lever i), which connects with the rope-guide by means of the crank-arm 12 the crank-arm being pivoted to the rope-guide and having at its opposite end a long slot o (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3,) in which a pin on the lever 11 fits, and as the rope is wound upon the drum-face t the rope-guide u can be moved by said rope, the pin of the lever t" sliding in the slot so that the rope-guide causes no interference with the taking up or paying out of the dumping-rope. When, however, it is desired to dump the bucket, the operator grasps the lever o and moves it over so that its pin comes to the end of the slot 22 in the crankarm 12 and the further movement of the lever draws over the rope-guide in line with the enlarged drum-face o, so that the rope is wound upon said drum-face, and as said drum-face has a greater surface speed than the drum-face '1' said dumping-rope P is taken up more rapidly than the fall-rope K, and so raises the rear end of the bucket and causes the dumping of the load. As soon as the load is dumped, upon the reversal of the drum R the dumping-rope P passes oif the enlarged drum-face t, and the bucket is in this way brought back to its normal horizontal position. To adjust the position of the two shafts w 10 and thereby the position of the guideframe it and the guide-rollers n thereon, an arm y is connected to the shaft w and passes through the sleeve 1 swiveled, as shown in dotted lines, 011 the bracket 10, and is adjusted therein by means of a set-screw 4 In this way the guide-rollers can always be held at the desired angle with relation to the dumping-rope.

The operation of the dump is practically as follows: Through the drum R the bucket is raised to the desired height, and by means of the endless drive-rope operated by the drum S and the winding and unwinding of the opcrating-ropes K P the carriage is brought above the excavation B, when the main drum S, carrying the drive-rope, is stopped, and by unwinding the ropes K P the bucket is lowered into the excavation. That bucket is then unhooked from the blocks and anotherbucket hooked thereto, and the apparatus is ready to raise the load, which is done by winding up the operating-ropes K P, this being continued until the bucket is raised to the desired height. The main drive-rope and the ropes K P are then moved at the same speed, bothdrums S R being connected by clutches to the engine or driving shaft, so that the carriage E moves along the main cable to the point at which the load is to be dumped, the apparatus being so arranged that the ropes are wound upon the drums in this operation. When'the carriage has reached the point at which the load is to be dumped, the operator is only required to throw the dumping-rope P into line with the enlarged drum-face o, and as the drive-rope and the fall-rope K are taken up at their regular speed the dumpingrope P is taken up more rapidly by winding on the enlarged drum-face 1;, while the falling of the load in mid-air and at the height' at which the bucket has been carried horizontally to the spoil-bank. The operation can also be accomplished by stopping the drive-rope and continuing the movement of the fall-rope K and dumping-rope P and throwing the dumping-rope P into line with the enlarged drum-face 0, when the bucket will be raised and at the same time its rear end will be elevated more than its forward end and cause the dumping of the load. As soon as the load is dumped the ropes are stopped, and upon the reversal of the movement of the drum R the ropes will be paid off from the drum and as the fall-rope is unwound from the enlarged drum-face 'v the bucket will gradually assume a horizontal position.

The preferable operation of the apparatus is to dump the bucket while the carriage is being moved by the drive-rope, as in that case the operator is only required to draw the dumpingrope into line with the enlarged drum-face o and cause the dumping, and he then simply reverses the movement both of the drum S operating the drive-rope and of the drum R operating the fall-rope and dum p'- ing-rope, and as the bucket travels back to the excavation it gradually assumes a horizontal position, the whole operation being accomplished without materially changing the position of the bucket with relation to the carriage. In this way the two drums are stopped and started at the same time, and the operation of dumping is rendered very simple. Instead of making the drum-face o of larger diameter than the other drum-faces, it may be made smaller than those drumfaces and the fall-rope K drawn in line with it by the rope-guide, so that the forward end of the bucket is lowered, the operation being practically the same. For these reasons it is found that the dumping apparatus can be 0perated at a higher speed, may be controlled more easily, and a larger number of loads dumped in a given time.

The Wear on the whole structure is very materially reduced, as the dumping takes place in mid-air, and the wear to the buckets by the striking or dragging of the same over the surface of the dump-pile is prevented, the Wear and tear to the apparatus and the consequent cost of repairs being very materially reduced.

lVhile I have described the above appara' tus as applicable to what might be termed cableways, it is of course to be understood that it may be employed with, and in the term cable is included, any suitable track for the carriage from which the bucket can be hung.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a main supporting cable or track, a carriage traveling thereon, a drive-rope for moving the carriage, two independent ropes hanging from the carriage and connected to the front and rear ends of the bucket, two drums of the same diameter for operating the two independent ropes, a drum of different diameter therefrom a frame extending across the drum formed of two shafts connected at their ends, and a ropeguide sliding on said two shafts and through which the rope runs, said frame being pivoted in bearings and adjustable so as to hold the rope-guide at proper angle to the rope, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of a main supporting cable or track, a carriage traveling thereon, a drive-rope for moving the carriage, two independent ropes hanging from the carriage and connected to the front and rear ends of the bucket, two drums of the same diameter for operating the two independent ropes, a drum of different diameter therefrom, a frame extending across the drum and formed of two shafts, one of which is pivoted in stationary bearings and the otherhaving an adj ustingarm connected thereto and passing through an adjusting-sleeve, and a rope-guide sliding on the two shafts of said frame and through which the rope runs, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

The combination of a main supporting cable or track, a carriage traveling thereon, a drive-rope for moving the carriage, two independent ropes hanging from the carriage and connected to the front'and rear ends of the bucket, two drums of the same diameter for operating the two independent ropes, a drum of different diameter therefrom, a frame extending across the drum formed of two shafts, a rope-guide having sleeves sliding on said shaft and through which the rope runs, an operating-lever, and an arm connecting said lever with the rope-guide by means of a pin on -the lever entering a slot in the arm, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said CHARLES H. LOOHER, have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES H. LOOHER. Witnesses:

FREDERICK K. COPELAND, PAUL BLATOHFORD. 

